Day 21: The Last Parade Down Main Street

This morning marked the final full day of our time at Disney World. It was jam-packed, but we wouldn’t want to spend our last day any other way! Because of this occasion, we all made sure to enjoy our last breakfast at the hotel (unfortunately meaning the last breakfast with Mickey Waffles). Shortly after breakfast, we broke off into our final project groups to get some last minute preparation on our last presentations of the trip. While our presentational skills are far from being perfected, they are certainly better than they were at the start of this trip. The presentations went very well as we were more confident this time around on our 4th and final presentations of the trip. We especially loved getting to present on projects that were interesting to us! In addition to showing off our hard project work, we enjoyed incorporating some Disney fun into our projects, including Tram’s Tower of Terror recording and the occasional AI generated group photo.

Harrison, The Anh, and Connor

Annmarie, Dylan, Tram, and Cassie

Luke, Ashton, Isabella, and Aidan

Della, Mara, and Julia

We then had some final course wrap-up talks before heading to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort for dinner at ‘Ohana! While our 4:00 reservation was a peculiar dinner time for the students, it seemed to be par for the course for our professors, who are getting on in their years. We explored the resort’s many gift shops while our table was being set up. Many students bought Hawaiian-themed souvenirs while waiting. Eventually, our tables were ready, and the food did not disappoint! Dinner fan-favorites included potstickers, steak, and bread pudding.

Once again, this was a family style restaurant (meaning it was all you could eat), and we DEFINITELY took advantage of this. Because of this, heading straight from dinner to Magic Kingdom to ride Space Mountain was definitely a gamble, but it ended up being the perfect start to our free time in the park. Tonight was definitely our latest night in the park (we didn’t leave the park until after 11), but that gave us plenty of time to fill with our favorite rides and try out some new ones.

Despite passing by teacups countless times throughout our time at the Magic Kingdom, some of us realized we had never ridden them before. Since tonight was the last night, we decided to give it a try along with some other newcomers, like the Magic Carpet ride and The Carousel of Progress. Some perfectly timed Lightning Lanes from the professors allowed us to skip through some major lines and maximize our enjoyment for the evening! Our late stay also allowed us to enjoy the incredible park finale fireworks show.

As we reflect on our time during Math and the Mouse, we are so thankful for the incredible opportunities and experiences we were provided. We couldn’t have asked for better professors to be our fearless leaders, and we will hang on to the new friendships we have had the joy of forming long after our drive home tomorrow! From the long nights working to the even longer days at the park, we have enjoyed every last moment of this wonderful trip. While it may be coming to an end, the skills we learned and friendships we made are ones that we will carry into the rest of our time at Furman.

“See ya real soon,”

Harrison and Mara